About Heschel

When The Abraham Joshua Heschel School was founded in 1983, a new model of Jewish day school was created. Named after one of the great Jewish leaders, teachers, and activists of the twentieth century, The Heschel School opened with a commitment to creating a pluralistic Jewish community dedicated to the values that characterized Rabbi Heschel’s life: intellectual exploration, respect, integrity, love of the Jewish people and tradition, and a commitment to social justice.

Admissions

Welcome to The Abraham Joshua Heschel School. We are a unique pluralistic Jewish day school, emphasizing academic excellence as well as awareness of social and communal responsibility through an offering of a superb integrated curriculum of general and Judaic studies.

Parents' Association

The PA is comprised of all parents in the school, including Early Childhood, Lower School, Middle School, and High School. We foster communication between the parent body and the administration, faculty, and staff. Throughout the year, we engage families by creating and producing community-building and educational programs.Visit the Parent PortalMy BackPackImportant DatesParent Manual

Support Heschel

There is no other school in New York City quite like Heschel. Across our curriculum, we foster academic excellence, as well as a love of learning and exploration and an emphasis on critical thinking. Your partnership is invaluable and we appreciate all the ways that you work with us to strengthen our school and our community.

Mission

The Abraham Joshua Heschel School is an independent Jewish day school named in memory of one of the great Jewish leaders, teachers, and activists of the 20th century and dedicated to the values that characterized Rabbi Heschel’s life: intellectual exploration, integrity, love of the Jewish people and tradition, and a commitment to social justice. The Heschel School is a pluralistic, egalitarian community that includes families from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, practices and beliefs. Boys and girls, men and women participate equally in all aspects of the school’s religious, intellectual, and communal life.

The Heschel School regards the texts of the Jewish tradition and the history of the Jewish people as fundamental resources for developing ideas, beliefs, behaviors and values to shape and inspire the lives of individuals in our time. In an open and engaging academic setting, the school’s curriculum interweaves the best of both Jewish and general knowledge and culture throughout the school day.

The school’s approach to education is governed by profound respect for students. It nurtures their curiosity, cultivates their imagination, encourages creative expression, values their initiative and engenders critical thinking skills. The school is committed to development of the whole child and supports each student’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical and spiritual growth. In addition, the school seeks to create an environment that encourages the professional and personal growth of teachers, administrators, and staff.

Among the central goals of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School are the following:

Fostering a lifelong love of learning. The school seeks to develop the understanding that the discovery of personal meaning and the growth of individual identity can emerge from the rigors of study.

Creating an environment of intellectual challenge and academic excellence.

Creating an ethical learning community that inspires its students to become responsible, active, compassionate citizens and leaders in the Jewish and world communities.

Cultivating the spiritual lives of its students and the nurturing of their commitment to Jewish values. The school helps students learn about and respect a range of Jewish practices and encourages them to embody these traditions in the way they live their lives; students learn the skills that enable them to participate fully in Jewish life.

Building of bridges between different sectors of the Jewish community, and between the Jewish community and other communities, as expressions of our religious imperative to unite human beings through justice, shared humanity and mutual respect.

Fostering in its students a deep commitment to and a lifelong relationship with the State of Israel and its language, culture and people, in recognition of the centrality of the State of Israel to Jewish identity and to the Jewish people.

Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art.